A man in Daqing, Heilongjiang reserved an entire internet cafe, for no other purpose than to snap up as many Bitcoin mining rigs as he could.

The man in questioned, named Liu, started Bitcoin mining since April this year and when he found it to be quite lucrative, he began buying Bitcoin mining hardware in bulk. The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed continuously up 60% recently this month, which led to more and more people rushing to buy mining hardware, which is already in limited production.

As a result, Bitcoin mining hardware quickly fell into short supply, and only one company had enough stocks of the hardware for sale. A much anticipated launch of a new miner model came on November 2nd, but purchase was limited to only two units per buyer as stocks were in short supply.

Liu then made a bold decision to reserve an entire internet cafe, so to have the patrons help snap up mining hardware for him. Anyone who succeed in buying one unit would receive a reward of RMB500, while those who failed to do so will still get to go web-surfing for the rest of the day for free.

Liu stated, “I managed to snap up 18 Bitcoin mining hardware in this operation, and I was quite happy with the results. Too many people were fighting for them at the same time, and I managed to get my hands on 18 units pretty much thanks to quick hands.”

Liu was after the newest Bitmain Antminer S7 Bitcoin mining hardware. According to interviews with miners in an Antminer QQ group, competition was incredibly fierce, with lucky ones managed to snap up more than a dozen units, leaving some failing to even get one. The cost of one S7 Antminer rig is approximately $1823 USD, putting the total cost of Liu’s investment at just under $33,000 USD, not including the extra cost of his procurement helpers.

Some miners were bold enough to even develop purchasing software, just to be able to buy as many as they could get their hands on. A user commented further that he was asked by a friend to help secure a unit, but failed nonetheless as the competition was just too fierce.

Bitcoin is gaining more and more attention by the day in China. More and more individuals and organizations hold positive attitudes towards its potential value, and investments have kept flooding in as a result. As methods to obtain Bitcoin are limited in China, buying mining hardware is often seen by the miners to be the safest and most efficient method of getting Bitcoins.